Friday, April 23, 2010

When swamped by laundry--craft!

Since indulging in the crafting I'm talking about here and coming up with the title for this post, I have conquered the mountains of laundry and am as caught up on it as I ever will be. The day I made these I was indeed swamped by laundry. However, I had a perfectly legitimate excuse of needing a gift for a friend's birthday party. I love how it works out like that. : )

[As a side note, I love these little Chinese food take out box style gift boxes. They are so much fun to use for small gifts and look festive when adorned with curly ribbon.]

The friend whose birthday we will be celebrating loves the ocean and anything sea-creature related. While brainstorming for a thoughtful and pretty gift to make for her, I remembered that some seashells have natural perforations that would be perfect for making a necklace. When I rummaged through my collections of seashells, I found this beautiful pearly shell. Paired with some sheer ribbon and a few shiny beads it makes a simple yet beautiful necklace. I think she'll like it.

While I was rummaging, I found this limpet shell that I picked up on one of our trips to the Oregon coast. I couldn't resist stringing it on some ribbon and adding a some wooden beads for a necklace for myself.I finished my crafting session by doing some good, practical mending on a couple of items that needed to be washed. I love taking a tear and closing it up sturdily with tiny stitches, trying to make it look as neat as possible. There's just something very satisfying about it.